An Undergraduate Social Work Program's Research Initiative

SUMMARY

This article reports how one undergraduate social work program responded to the Boyer Commission's recommendations and the Council on Social Work Education's expectations to educate and train undergraduate students to develop, use, and communicate empirically-based knowledge. Discussion of the gradual development of an undergraduate research initiative includes the program's ideology and ambitions, administrative support, curricular changes, major challenges, crucial decisions and revisions, and student success. Assessment of the research initiative is highlighted with attention given to the utilization of collected data for revisions. Findings consistently indicate faculty mentoring of students is crucial to this effort. The article concludes with the author's hope that shared information regarding this program's research initiative will stimulate discussion and further thinking on preparing undergraduate social work students to be critical consumers and capable producers of studies pertinent to social work practice.

Key Words:

• Undergraduate research
• research initiative
• undergraduate social work education
• curriculum development